Madonna struggled walking to her own backyard after 'near-death' health scare: 'I did it anyway'

Madonna revealed that she pulled an oxygen tube out of her nose and told her manager she'd be back on tour "in two f---ing months" amid a bacterial infection.

Madonna has revealed disturbing details about her "near-death" 2023 health scare that made her eventual return to the global stage feel all the more celebratory.

The 65-year-old paused her ongoing Celebration Tour Monday night in Los Angeles to reflect on a bacterial infection that she said not only forced her to postpone the planned start of her current concert series last summer, but also nearly took her life in the process.

“I would call in every other day and ask [my doctor] why I didn’t have any energy, when was my energy going to come back, when was I going to feel myself again, when can I go on tour again?” Madonna told the audience at the Kia Forum, which she included part of the medical team responsible for her recovery. “All he would say is, ‘Go outside, in the sun.’”

Madonna said that getting around her home was a struggle at the time, but that she "did it anyway" to build back her strength.

"It was so hard for me to walk from my house to the backyard and sit in the sun. I know that sounds insane, but it was difficult, and I didn’t know when I could get up again, when I could be myself again, and when I’d have my energy back," she said. "It’s a strange thing to finally not feel like I was in control, and that was my lesson: to let go. Thank you to everyone who’s here that took care of me and listened to all of my endless complaining and need for predictions that I could not have. You’re patient and you’re kind. You still are."

The singer-songwriter also riled up the audience by recalling an exchange with her manager, Guy Oseary, who she said asked her when she'd be ready to get back on the road while she was hooked up to medical machines following the Celebration Tour's initial delay.

"I took the oxygen out of my nose, I looked at him, and I said, ‘in two f---ing months!’” Madonna said as the audience cheered. "I just said it. Sometimes you just have to say s---, put it out in the universe, and it happens."

Before transitioning into an acoustic rendition of her 1989 hit "Express Yourself," Madonna told the crowd that her fans and her family are what ultimately inspired her to get her body back into the groove.

"My children are what really helped me pull through because they worked so hard. My children worked so hard. I didn’t want to let them down, so I just set a date, and that date became a reality," she said, referencing segments of the tour that include performances by her kids, including David Banda on guitar, Mercy James on piano, and a voguing set featuring her daughter, Estere. "I didn’t want to disappoint my fans. I never do. I want to provocate, I wasn’t to masturbate, I don’t want to disappoint my fans."

EW has reached out to Madonna's team for more information.

To date, the Celebration Tour has earned rave reviews and featured several headline-making moments, including when Madonna brought Julia Garner — the planned star of her delayed biopic film — on stage with her during a performance of "Vogue" in December, as well as for her emotional tribute to the AIDS crisis set to the 1986 ballad "Live to Tell."

Additional reporting by Patrick Gomez

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